


Joey ... What Happened

by Rose_Kard



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Evil Father, F/M, I'm outta here!, I'm outta tag ideas, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, good mother, poor Joey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-07 02:45:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18401537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_Kard/pseuds/Rose_Kard
Summary: When Joey has a nightmare and Henry is at war, there is only one lady who can save the day! Or rather, night.





	Joey ... What Happened

Linda Stein awoke to muffled cries. She quickly turned over, forgetting that her husband was away at war. Remembering when she felt cold sheets by her side she got up. Both of her sons were sound asleep, and her daughter was as well. Clara Drew layed on the floor covered in blankets, her breathing soft. If it wasn’t her children, or Joey’s who was it?   
She spent another few moments wandering the house before finding a figure hiding next to the bed in the guest room. The figure was shaking like a leaf, soft sniffles coming from him. Linda slowly walked over to it and knelt down. “Joey, Joey is that you?” His head flew up in surprise. “L-linda, I’m sorry I-I hope I didn’t wake you.” A shaky smile was plastered on his face.  
He wasn’t wearing his glasses at the moment, and so she looked closely into his eyes. “Joey” Her voice was calm and motherly. “What happened?” The plastered smile dropped and she saw into the man for the first time.   
Without hesitation she quickly led him into the living room and sat him down on the couch, before walking into the kitchen. Linda returned a few moments later with two mugs of hot chocolate and a candle to light up the room. “Joey, what happened?” the calm tone in her voice was something that the man hadn’t heard in a long time. “I had a nightmare.” She put her hand on his shoulder “Care to tell me what happened?” He looked up from his mug and asked her a question “Are you sure you want to know?” She nodded  
He sighed “I suppose I should start from the beginning. My real name is Josiah Drew. I got influenza when I was five. Of course the medicine was expensive, and my father was not happy about it. He became verbally abusive, and when my mother tried to help he would start to yell at her.”   
Linda was shocked at what she was hearing. Anyone else would, most likely, never be able to smile let alone become a father. Joey took a sip of his hot chocolate before continuing. “My mom got me a sketchbook and a pencil, seeing as I had been sick for a while and couldn’t read. I was friends with the neighbor and he was nice enough to sell my art for me. I smuggled the money into my father’s wallet after everyone was in bed. Mama knew but didn’t say anything.”  
“I was finally better sometime after I turned seven. He didn’t settle down even though I was healthy again. I remember one day when I was either nine or ten Mama took me to the mountains. We spent hours in the snow. It was the best day I had ever had. That man became more and more abusive, though I helped keep Mama from getting the blunt of everything. I-I wear long sleeves for a reason.”   
He pulled in a shaky breath before once again continuing. “I was seventeen, he had gotten drunk. I tried to stop him, I swear I did. He had a knife and he threw me against the wall. Mama was on the ground, pleading with him. He stabbed her, and now she’s gone. I got knocked him out, and tried to save her. She said that she believed in me, and that I was her darling boy. Then *hic* then, s-she, her eyes, th-th-they.”   
Tears began to flow from his eyes. Linda quickly set her mug down and wrapped an arm around the man. He was almost a foot taller than her, but somehow he had managed to bury his face in her shoulder. She pulled the mug out of Joey’s hand and began to rub circles into his back.   
“It’s alright Joey, it's all okay. Let it out, don’t bottle this up.” Joey clung to her, fearing to be left alone. Linda did her best to comfort the man, no not a man, a child. Joey was a child who had not gotten the love he needed.   
“I don’t want to be like my father.”  
Linda froze at that one sentence. He had been taking care of his daughter for ten years, fearing that he would become like his father. He was terrified that he would hurt her. “Josiah Drew, I know you, and my husband knows you. You would never to anything to hurt the people you love intentionally. I’m always here for you if you need help.”   
Slowly, but surely, his crying ceased and his body relaxed. He had fallen asleep. His breath was still a little shaky, and tear streaks were left on his cheeks. Carefully she laid him back on the sofa that they were on. After covering him with a blanket she brushed his hair out of his face and walked away.   
The next morning was calm. It was a Sunday morning and Joey was smiling. He had gotten up early and made breakfast for everyone, calmly waking them up once it was ready for them. Linda smiled at the change in him, and everyone could feel how much calmer he was.   
A little while later Linda went looking for Robert, her oldest son, only to find him sitting with Josiah. The two were working on his history homework. “Alright, so in the civil war america split into two parts, the north and the south. The south wanted to have slavery, while the north didn’t. So the two parts went to war about the matter, since talking wasn’t solving the issue.”   
To her surprise, Joey hadn’t left the Stein house once. Even though his polio was acting up, he helped around the house. Linda had finished washing the dishes from dinner and went to go put the kids to bed. Instead she found Joey, sitting on the guest bedroom bed with four kids. All five of them were asleep, and a book was in Joey’s hand.  
She smiled to think that Joey thought he would be a bad father. He was taking care of four kids, three of which weren’t even his own, and he had put them all to sleep. He was right, he wouldn’t be a good father. He would be the best.

**Author's Note:**

> Whoop Whoop! I'm really enjoying writing this stuff. I need to limit the time I spend writing! Hope y'all enjoyed!  
> -Rose


End file.
